Somebody To Love (Ben Hardy!Roger Taylor fanfic)

three

This was Freddie's big moment. In a few short minutes, he would be up on stage for his first performance with Smile.

"Will you relax?" Rebecca asked as she and Mary pushed their way through the crowd to find a decent spot in the middle, "He's gonna be fine."

"I know he will," she nodded, "It's just..."

She didn't have time to worry because the lights dimmed and the band made their way onto the stage.

Rebecca could already hear the girls swooning over Roger already.

Working in the recording studio, she came in contact with men in the same category as Roger all the time. Men who thought that just because they could play an instrument or were in a band, that they were God's gift to women.

Most of the time, men like that didn't know the meaning of the word no.

"Hello everyone," Brian spoke into the mic, "As you can see, we've got a couple of changes in our line up. This is John Deacon, our new bass player and this, on vocals, is Freddie."

"Where's Tim?" someone yelled and a couple of others shouted their agreements.

If Freddie was nervous, he didn't let it show and after giving the rest of the guys a nod, they started playing and at first, he had a little bit of trouble with the mic but as soon as he got it out of the stand and picked up his tambourine, that was it.

Rebecca watched in awe as he struts across the stage, oozing confidence as if this wasn't his first time up there and the voice that came out of him! She's never heard anything like it.

He captivated the crowd and Rebecca was pleased to see that even the man who had complained before seemed to be enjoying himself.

And even though she was supposed to be listening to the music, she couldn't help but let her eyes stray toward the back of the stage - to where Roger was. His eyes were closed as he concentrated on playing all the right rhythms and on their own, her teeth found her bottom lip.

Not one man has ever had that effect on her.

"You're practically drooling!" Mary yelled in her ear, making her look away from the drummer and she shrugged, giving her an innocent look.

"I'm just...admiring the talent."

Mary snorted, "Sure, whatever you say."

"Oh, hush you," she laughed, giving her a little shove, "Just listen to the music."

||-||

Before meeting everyone outside by the van afterwards, Rebecca rushed back to the bathroom again - she had broken the seal.

The band were still putting their stuff away when she finally did get around to going out of the building, pulling her jacket on as she pushed the door open.

Brian, John and Roger were all there but Freddie and Mary were nowhere in sight and Rebecca had a sneaking suspicion that they'd perhaps gone home without her.

She tapped John's shoulder, "Have Fred and Mary gone?"

"They just left two minutes ago," he nodded and she sighed.

"Brilliant."

"Problem, love?" Roger asked from where he was sat on the back of the van.

"Freddie was kind of my life home," she shrugged, "But it's okay. I'll just hop on the bus."

"You don't have to do that," Brian spoke up, "Rog'll take you home, won't you?"

Rebecca looked at the blonde to see him nodding but she was quick to shake her head, "I can't ask you to do that."

"It's fine," Roger said, tossing the end of his cigarette onto the ground, "Where do you live?"

"Felix Road."

"Yeah, that's fine," he nodded, "I'll take you home and I'll drop Brian and John on the way."

"I don't want to be a bother..." she tried to protest but the three of them were having none of it.

"Get in the van," Brian instructed, making her laugh, "You can sit up front."

Roger opened the door to the passenger seat for her while John and Brian climbed into the back.

"Thank you," she whispered before Roger could close the door again, "You really didn't have to do this."

"Come off it," he smiled, "It's on my way. It's no trouble, really."

As they set off, Rebecca made eye contact with the woman who had spoken to her inside, who raised her eyebrows but she quickly looked away.

She had nothing to feel ashamed about.

||-||

She really didn't know what to expect on a car ride with the three of them. At first, it was loud; the three singing along loudly to the tape that Roger had put in but one by one, John and Brian got dropped off and soon, it was only the two of them.

Roger had stopped singing, which was a little disappointing. Rebecca thought he had a lovely voice and was now tapping along to the music on the steering wheel while she just sat in silence.

They were getting close to her flat when Roger finally said something.

"Where do you work?"

"Oh, I work at the little recording studio on Northfield Road."

"A recording studio? No wonder Freddie's keen to be friends with you."

They both laughed and Rebecca toyed with her hands, "You guys are really good. If I was in charge about who gets to go in, I'd choose you guys. Sadly, I am not. I'm just a cleaner and errand girl. Oh, this is me."

Roger brought the van to a stop just outside her gate and she cracked her door open, looking at him when he cut the engine.

"What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, "I'm walking you to the door."

"It's literally right there," she pointed, "I'll be fine."

"A lot can happen between here and that door." he shrugged, "How guilty do you think I'll feel if, god forbid, you got out and I didn't walk you and something happened?"

Her face flushed again, something that seemed to be happening a lot around this young man and looked down at her lap so her hair hid the blushing. She sat silently before looking at him again, "Okay then."

He grinned and got out of the van, coming around to her side to open the door properly for her, steadying her as she stumbled when she jumped down, "Crikey, how much did you have?"

"Shut up," she giggled, giving him a little shove, "I only had two."

The two of them walked up the path to the door and as Rebecca dug around in her pockets for the key to the flat's close, Roger leant up against the door, "I saw Nicole talking to you."

"Who?" she asked, momentarily forgetting about the woman who had all but cornered her in the pub, "Oh, her. Is that her name?"

"And I know that she was talking about me."

She finally found them, pulling them out and started trying to find the right one, "You don't have to explain anything to me. What you do, or rather who you do, is none of my business."

He looked down at her with an expression she couldn't decipher and nodded to the door that was now open.

"I'd better go."

"Right." he murmured.

She debated with herself for a couple of seconds before she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, "Thanks for the lift, Roger. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he replied softly and she closed the door behind her.

Sighing, he turned to return to the van, kicking a small stone as he walked. He knew that as soon as he had seen Nicole talking to her, he should have stepped in, pulled her away from her or something but he didn't.

And now he felt as if he'd blown it with her before things had even started.